Pheasant Hunting News

Pheasant Hunting and Sporting Clays News

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Like everywhere else in the country; Minnesota has a declining pheasant population. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has stated that while local populations have increased slightly this year; they were still 58% below the 10 year average and 71% below the long term average.

Pheasant hunting at the Yellowstone Lake and Wildlife Area in Lafayette County is strangely reminiscent of the spring turkey hunts: the current area’s vegetation and bare soil is covered in frost making hunting mildly treacherous.

On the 13 December 2014, there was a pheasant summit held in Marshall. Hosted by Governor Mark Dayton, the summit set out ideas how the local residents, government agencies and charities can help improve the local pheasant population. Despite a recent rise; the population is significant lower than the 10 year and long term average.

When the pheasant hunting season started on October 18, there was an expectation that there would be an increase of traffic at the Mitchell Municipal Airport, South Dakota. While the airport manager, Mike Scherschlight, has stated that there have been more hunters, there have actually been a lower number of planes than expected.

While most big game seasons are done and gone, the pheasant and quail hunting seasons just ended or are still going strong, especially in the Cowboy State. The pheasant season in particular was open until December 31. The sharp-tailed grouse and wild turkey seasons were also open until this time in most areas.

As hunters take to the fields in search for their favorite quarry like pheasants and quail, there are another group out there: the game wardens. These individuals are too on the prowl for their game, those looking to break hunting regulations and to support hunters who have injuries.

The 2014 pheasant hunting season is underway and many of the hunters out in the fields will be comparing their harvests with those of previous years’. While some will realise that this year is certainly better than the 2013 season; those who were hunting in the 1980s and 1990s will still be reminiscing about the good old days.

For those looking to hunt in Kansas, there is some really good news: the outlook is better than it was in 2013. Despite this, there is also some bad news; the potential success for hunters is not going to return to the highs previously seen, at least not this year.

Throughout South Dakota the snow has arrived early and temperatures are decreasing faster than was expected. Yet many South Dakota hunting lodges are still fully booked for the holidays and many hunters are in the fields taking advantage of the improved population. Some are even finding they can bag their limits.

Veteran NBC anchor, Tom Brokaw, took viewers of “Opening Day” on a trip to his native South Dakota for a special pheasant hunting edition. The hope for the network is that this could be a regular fixture in their programming schedules.

More than 11,000 pheasants are to be released in Utah at 56 different sites this hunting season. The season for Utah began on November 1 and just before each weekend there will be a new release. The exception of this will be the Thanksgiving weekend, where birds will be released earlier in the week so there will be a significant number of birds ready for the special weekend.

In 2006 and 2007, when pheasant harvests and hunting numbers were at their highest, the Minnesota state sold 129,000 pheasant stamps. By 2013, the number of hunters had decreased by 40% with only 78,000 stamps sold.